This Marathon Petroleum Insider Reduced Their Stake By 39%

From what we can see, insiders were net sellers in Marathon Petroleum Corporation's (NYSE:MPC ) during the past 12 months. That is, insiders sold the stock in greater numbers than they purchased it.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Executive Vice President of Refining, Timothy Aydt, sold US$1.4m worth of shares at a price of US$173 per share. We generally don't like to see insider selling, but the lower the sale price, the more it concerns us. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$152. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price. Timothy Aydt was the only individual insider to sell over the last year.

You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

For those who like to find hidden gems this free list of small cap companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Marathon Petroleum Insiders Bought Stock Recently

Over the last quarter, Marathon Petroleum insiders have spent a meaningful amount on shares. We can see that insider Jeffrey Campbell paid US$898k for shares in the company. No-one sold. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Does Marathon Petroleum Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Insiders own 0.2% of Marathon Petroleum shares, worth about US$96m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Marathon Petroleum Insiders?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. However, the longer term transactions are not so encouraging. We don't take much heart from transactions by Marathon Petroleum insiders over the last year. But they own a reasonable amount of the company, and there was some buying recently. So they seem pretty well aligned, overall. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for Marathon Petroleum and we suggest you have a look.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.